SMOKE

SMOKE

Smoke from Canadian wildfires is drifting down to Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.  Particles are in the unhealthy range.  People, especially the vulnerable, are advised to limit outdoor activities, stay inside, and chill out.  Seems like the whole West and Northwest are on fire, and on top of that we have drought conditions here in the upper Midwest.  Cattle ranchers are selling off herds, and authorities are now allowing grazing and haying on previously set aside conservation easements.  Ranchers in Northern Mexico are watching their cattle die of thirst.  Due to water shortages in California, the price of produce will go up.  They are predicting shortages of ketchup due to tomato shortages.  It goes on and on and on.

There are now pockets of the unvaccinated, particularly in the South, where the Delta variant of COVID is spreading like wildfire.  Now the CDC says people should mask up, even if vaccinated, in those hot spots, because even the vaccinated can spread the virus without knowing it.  I recently had a conversation with a relative who was unvaccinated.  She said because she had COVID and recovered she didn’t need to get a shot because now she was immune.  I told her that the CDC says you should still get the shot.  Her attitude:  what does the CDC know?  It was like talking to a brick wall.

Speaking of brick walls, the governor of Florida signed into law prohibiting local jurisdictions from imposing mask or vaccine mandates.   This despite the fact that Florida is number one in increased COVID cases, and their hospitals are being overwhelmed.  The governor thinks the trend is just “seasonal”.  Rumor has it that the governor may be a candidate for higher office in the future.  We’ll see how his aspirations hold up in the future if Florida continues to be a major hot spot.

A recent survey reveals that the majority of Americans support mask and vaccine mandates.  Still there are a few die-hards that don’t want the government telling them what to do.  I also think that the majority of Americans believe that climate change is real.  However, there are politicians that will pander to the skeptics and will tell you that those who support mandates and believe in climate change are just blowing smoke.